Stringed musical instruments form the backbone of popular music in many countries around the world. For many decades, electric versions of stringed musical instruments (“electric instruments”) have been a popular alternative to their acoustic counterparts. Various methods are currently available for electric-instrument players (“users”) to change the character of the sound produced by an electric instrument, such as by using effects pedals. Various methods are also available to merge music played on an electric instrument with other music and to make sound recordings of music played on an electric instrument, such as by using mixing boards and sound-recording devices. Effects pedals, mixing boards, sound recording devices, and other electric-instrument-related items can be expensive to buy and take up large amounts of space. Consequently, some people opt to use software and/or hardware installed on an electronic device, such as a computer, that can function as one or more virtual effect pedals, a virtual mixing board, a sound recorder, and/or other sound-augmenting and/or sound-managing devices.
Utilizing software and/or hardware installed on an electronic device may reduce cost and clutter, and increase convenience. However, interconnecting an electric instrument to an electronic device can be problematic. Although a number of different methods exist for interconnecting an electric instrument to an electronic device, some methods create a relatively-low quality of sound, and some methods rely on the addition of a number of intervening devices for proper functioning that may be expensive to purchase and inconvenient to set-up and operate. For example, in a first method for interconnecting an electric instrument to an electronic device, an electric instrument is interconnected to a sound card on an electronic device via a one-eighth-inch adaptor plug inserted into a mic-in input for an electronic device. The sound quality produced using the first method may be relatively low because the impedance of mic-in inputs is generally lower than a typical impedance level needed by an electric instrument. Alternatively, in a second method, a one-eighth-inch adaptor plug, interconnected to an electric instrument, is inserted into a line-in input for an electronic device. Although the line-in input may have a high enough impedance to increase the sound quality compared to the first method, a pre-amp may be needed to increase an input signal to a level high enough to be usable by an electronic device. In a third method, an electric instrument is connected to a universal serial bus (“USB”) interface that, in turn, is connected to a USB port for an electronic device. In a fourth method, an electric instrument is connected to an amplifier, and the amplifier, in turn, is interconnected to a microphone. The microphone is then connected to a one-eighth-inch adaptor which is inserted into a mic-in input for an electronic device. Alternately, in a fifth method, an electric instrument in connected to an amplifier and the amplifier, in turn, is interconnected to a microphone. The microphone is then connected to a pre-amp, which is connected to a one-eighth-inch adaptor which, in turn, is inserted into a line-in input for an electronic device. In a sixth method, an electric instrument in connected to an amplifier and the amplifier, in turn, is interconnected a microphone. The microphone is then connected to a USB interface which, in turn, is connected to a USB port for an electronic device. In a seventh method, an electric instrument in connected to an amplifier and the amplifier, in turn, is connected to a one-eighth-inch adaptor which, in turn, is inserted into a line-in input for an electronic device.
Each of the above-listed methods of interconnecting an electric instrument to an electronic device either produces a relatively low-quality signal or utilizes a number of expensive and cumbersome intervening electronic devices, such as pre-amps, amplifiers, microphones, and/or USB interfaces. Stringed-musical-instrument players, as well as people that enjoy listening to stringed musical instruments have, therefore, recognized a need for an easy, cost-effective way to interconnect an electric instrument to an electronic device without relying on a number of intervening devices for increasing the quality of the sound input to the electronic device to a level that is high enough to create, merge, and/or manage sound recordings.